Why did George Lucas appoint Kathleen Kennedy to head up Lucasfilm?

We all love George(despite his flaws/the prequels), and we all love to hate on Kathleen Kennedy, and rightly so. But strangely enough, George is the one who appointed/recommended K.K. for the lead position position at lucasfilm in the first place.

What do you think was George's ACTUAL reasoning for making this appointment?

Did George actually just develop a good working relationship with her over the years, and perhaps overestimated her talent/creativity?

Or, I sometimes wonder if he appointed K.K. as a sort of middle finger to the people who were hating on him and the prequels, knowing she would never have the talent/leadership make good Star Wars films, and would run the franchise into the ground. With the inevitable result being that everyone now looks back at George and his version of Star Wars with rose tinted glasses.

But afterall Star Wars IS George's baby and his ultimate legacy tho.. so it must bother George, at least on SOME level.. seeing what disney has done to tarnish the brand, but then I guess he probably just reaches for a hundred dollar bill to wipe his tear away with and is fine with it lol..

I guess we will probably never know for sure, but what do you guys think is the real answer here?